Book Trailer in the spotlight: Evermore, the first in the Immortals Series by Alyson Noel

Looks likes I have a lot of eye candy for you today. Well, here's a trailer. Enjoy.

Evermore, the first in the Immortals Series by Alyson Noel 

Book Cover in the spotlight: Abigail by Donna Burgess

This week I would like to share with you another beautiful cover (a short story this time). Here it is:

Abigail by Donna Burgess

So dreamy

Blurb:
Who is Abigail? An angel? A ghost? True love stands the test of time and the boundaries of death in this historical romance short story that spans from the pre-Civil War South to the jungles of war-ravened Vietnam.

Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Abigail-ebook/dp/B0052MCSVK/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329701213&sr=1-5

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/abigail-donna-burgess/1102437568?ean=2940012613264
     

Cover reveal: Taste by Kate Evangelista

Hi everyone,

I'd like to share with you the young adult paranormal romance, Taste by Kate Evangelista, coming out from Crescent Moon Press. 

 

At Barinkoff Academy, there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans.

When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.

Kate Evangelista website: http://www.kateevangelista.com/

Cover in the spotlight--Rex Rising (Book 1 of Elei's Chronicles) by Chrystalla Thoma

Here's another captivating cover. Rex Rising is a dystopian YA science fiction novel (Book 1 of Elei's Chronicles) by Chrystalla Thoma. As always, if the cover draws you and the blurb pulls you in, click on the links.

Blurb:

In a world where parasites create new human races, Elei leads a peaceful life — until a mysterious attack on his boss sends him fleeing with a bullet in his side. Pursued for a secret he does not possess and with the fleet at his heels, he has but one thought: to stay alive. His pursuers aren’t inclined to sit down and talk, although that’s not the end of Elei’s troubles. The two powerful parasites inhabiting his body, at a balance until now, choose this moment to bring him down, leaving Elei with no choice but to trust in people he hardly knows. It won’t be long before he realizes he must find out this deadly secret – a secret that might change the fate of his world and everything he has ever known – or die trying.

Purchase link:

http://www.amazon.com/Rex-Rising-Eleis-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B005GZPOQE

Author Chrystalla Thoma
http://chrystallathoma.wordpress.com/   
http://www.amazon.com/Chrystalla-Thoma/e/B001JOWZCC

Sweets and Facts

A while ago I received two blog awards. Teresa Ashby has been a follower of my blog since the beginning and awarded me the Sweet Blogger Award. Now I have two of them, which just makes it sweeter.
But sweet as it is, unfortunately, I can't keep it to myself. I have to pass it on. 
But before I do, I have to tell you 7 things about myself you don't already know. Since I started this blog in 2010, I revealed so many things about myself already that I can't quite think of much more.



But I do have to come up with something for this award, don't I? Right, let's see:

1. My parents are divorced. I would have been glad if they were together but I love my stepmother and my step siblings too much to want to give them up.
2. I attended boarding for the first two years of high school. Worst time of my life. I was a total outsider and most of my friends were boys. The girls were just too mean.
3. I just started wearing glasses after hubby forced me to go to an optician to have my eyes checked out, so I can stop squinting when watching TV or gazing into the distance. I have the glasses but the squinting continues because I keep losing them.
4. I love flying. No, I really LOVE flying. Especially when the plane takes off or lands. But then again, I love all kinds of thrill rides.
5. I started writing my first long novel (300 pages) by hand at 2 a.m. in 2001. I completed it within a month. The manuscript is in a box somewhere. I should look for it. If only I knew where to start.
6. Tangi's Teardrops started off as a 45 page children's book. When I started editing late last year, my imagination took over. I just had so much more to tell.
7. The last movie I watched before writing this post is The Vow.It was such a bittersweet romantic movie, based on  a true story. I loved it.

Here are the nominees:
Marita Fowler is the author of Fat Assassins
Julia Hones from My Writing Life
Lindsey R. Loucks Jesse Said Yes
Patsy Collins from Patsy Collins
Jess from BooksandSensibility
J.L. Campbell from The Character Depot
Brianne from Memories Overtaking Me

Congratulations to the winners. Now for the next award, which I received from my dear follower and friend, Julia Hones. Thanks for thinking of me, Julia. She awarded me the The "Smart Cookie" award. Fortunately this time I'm not expected to share something about myself. Instead here are the rules:
1) Thank the award giver and add a link to their blog.
2) Share some interesting facts on anything.
3) Pass the award to other "Smart Cookies".


Here are a few facts I found to be rather interesting:
1. The thumb is the same size as the nose. (I just measured and it could be true)
2. Apples are part of the rose family. (bet you didn't know that).
3. Goats have no upper front teeth. 
4. A baby kangaroo is called a joey. (So cute. Now I'm in the mood to go and watch friends)
5. Oysters can change their gender. (No I didn't make this up)  
6. Apparently, dolphins sleep with one eye open
I'll stop here but I'll leave you with a link to some pretty cool facts about Lincoln and Kennedy (you might have stumbled upon them): http://www.carolsvault.com/spooky-facts-abraham-lincoln-vs-john-f-kennedy/
 
Here are the nominees:
Larissa from A Three Way Tie
Carol Riggs from Artzicarol Ramblings
Lauren F. Boyd from My Path To Publication 
Silvy from Books are my life
Misty from Unwritten
 Bel from The Itsy Bitsy Monkey
Zella Kate from Zella Kate

E-Book Giveaway: Tangi's Teardrops by Liz Grace Davis

 I'm giving away two kindle e-book copies of Tangi's Teardrops.

All you have to do to enter is (using the Rafflecopter):

1. Follow me on twitter
2. Tweet this giveaway

This giveaway ends Monday the 20th of February. The winners will be notified on Tuesday.

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter

Double Unveiling--Chocolate Aftertaste (Cover and Trailer)

Hi everyone,

My contemporary romance novel, Chocolate Aftertaste is nearing the finish line and I wanted to show you the cover. I'm really happy with how it has turned out. It has been ready for some days but I wanted to create a trailer to accompany it before I did the unveiling. I lost a lot of sleep over the trailer but I think it was worth it.
For now, I hope you like the cover and trailer. Let me know what you think.

Cover in the spotlight--Chasing China; A Daughter's Quest for Truth by Kay Bratt

Here's another gorgeous cover for you. Chasing China is a coming of age novel by Kay Bratt. I love how haunted and mysterious the cover looks. It fits the story to perfection.

Mia is beautiful, talented and has the world at her fingertips. But what makes her different than the average college student who juggles a heavy workload and a rat of a boyfriend? Many years ago she was born to an unknown family in China but soon discarded to fend for herself in a busy train station. Fate stepped in when Mia was taken to the local orphanage and adopted at the age of four by her American family. Life has been good for her, or at least as much as she has allowed it to be while pushing her deep feelings of abandonment to the back of her mind. Finally she has decided that in order to move forward, she must confront her past. Mia takes a journey to the mysterious land of her birth and embarks on a mission to find answers. As she follows the invisible red thread back through her motherland, she is enamored by the history and culture of her heritage--strengthening her resolve to get to the truth, even as Chinese officials struggle to keep it buried. With her unwavering spirit of determination, Mia battles the forces stacked against her and faces mystery, danger, a dash of romance, and finally a conclusion that will change her life. 

Chasing China is available for purchase here: Amazon
Kay Bratt author website: www.kaybratt.com

The True Story Behind Tangi's Teardrops

It's been a while since I opened up and gave you another peak into my life or my past. In this post I intend to tell you a little more about the real Liz Grace Davis.  

"But I thought the post will be about Tangi's Teardrops," you might ask. 

My answer is, "It is." 

The truth is, I can't talk about Tangi's Teardrops without talking about me. We’re connected. First of all, Tangi is one of my middle names and secondly, Tangi is me. The first half of Tangi’s Teardrops is based on my childhood.

Right, what do I and Tangi have in common? Suffering at the hands of People who were supposed to care for us.

For those of you who don’t already know, I was born in a refugee camp in Angola and stayed there until I was eight years old. In 1989, I arrived in Namibia and since my parents had to start building their lives from scratch, I lived with a relative for about a year in the village. It turned out to be one of the worst years of my life. This relative loved me and treated me with kindness but she couldn’t be there every minute of every day. Instead, two nannies/housekeepers looked after me and my cousins. They did look after the other children but made my life hell because of reasons I don’t understand and stopped trying to.

Right, what exactly happened? Cruelty happened. During that year, those two women beat me, starved me (I was forced to watch everyone eating) and forced me to do work no eight year old could handle. When I disobeyed them, they even went as far as burning me with hot coals from the open fire or pushing thorns into my feet. Most mornings they woke me up at four or five to do their work—pounding flour, working in the field etc. while they sat nearby to watch and hurled insults at me. At around eight or so, I had to go to the village primary school so they made sure to sneak me back into bed shortly before we had to wake up. 

I never reported them. I did everything I could to hide the scars or wounds because I was afraid of more pain. I tried reporting them once and paid too high a price. 

One thing that kept me going, kept me sane were fairy tale books which I found at our primary school. Dreaming of other worlds, beautiful places, was like a temporary balsam to my wounds. When I wasn’t reading, I made up stories that I replayed over and over inside my head.

When I left that place and went to stay with my grandmother on my mother’s side (where I was embraced with so much love), I was ridden with all kinds of illnesses. Among others, my eyes were so infected, I lost a lot of eyelashes from trying to pull the eyelids apart in the mornings and I suffered from constant styes. I had almost permanent stomach aches and my stomach was bloated. I probably had kwashiorkor.  In short, I was in and out of hospitals constantly.

So, why did I decide to tell Tangi’s story now? Because I'm at a place where I can look back and instead of feeling bitter and sorry for that little girl, I feel sorry for the women who might have been so unhappy with themselves that they hurt an innocent child to make themselves feel better. In the beginning it used to hurt. I cried myself to sleep, had nightmares, became withdrawn and very fearful of so many things and situations. It took a long time to heal because the pain those two women had inflicted on me, was only an addition to more pain others had caused me long before they came along. But that's another story for another day.

People often want to know if I forgave all the people that hurt me in my past. I did, but I can’t say I forgot. I didn’t forget and probably never will, but I can’t afford to be bitter because laughter is just much more fun. We always have choices in life. We can choose to stay focused on the past and let it taint our futures or we can accept what had happened and move on. There’s so much more to live for and be grateful for. That’s exactly it. My past has taught me to be grateful for what I have, where I am and who I am.

Differences between Tangi and I

There are some differences between Tangi (from the novel) and I. She is twelve; I was eight and suffered more abuse than she did. I had to tone it down in the novel. I didn’t want to scare anyone. Tangi is disabled, I’m not. Finally, both of my lovely my parents are still alive.

By the way, with this post I’d also like to announce that Tangi’s Teardrops is finally available in Paperback and can be purchased HERE

And the E-book HERE 

Photoshoot--Tangi's Teardrops and I

Hello everyone,

For those of you who don't already know, today is a very special day for me.
I received a proof copy of my debut novel in paperback.
I know the novel is already available as an e-book, but nothing could compare to the feeling of holding my baby in my own hands. As I've mentioned before in one of my older posts, it will sleep under my pillow tonight and maybe tomorrow and and and...

I don't want to say much.My novel and I had a little photoshoot. Sometimes words just aren't enough so I'll let the photos show you how happy I am. Enjoy.